Getty ImagesIn April, Floyd spurned an offer from Arizona to fill its coaching vacancy, saying he was staying at USC. A year ago, Floyd was offered the coaching job at his alma mater Louisiana State and turned it down, saying at the time, “This is my last job at SC.”
The day he met reporters to say he had rejected Arizona, Floyd said, “This is still my last job.”
That day Garrett called Floyd a “tremendous asset” to USC’s basketball program at a school where the nationally ranked football team dominates.
“The future is very bright here under Tim’s direction,” Garrett said then. “We talked today, and we expressed our commitment to each other. We are both excited about our prospects for next season, especially if we have the team we think we’ll have.”
On May 27, Floyd appeared with football coach Pete Carroll at a meet-and-greet for USC supporters in Irvine.
Both coaches were asked whether the school was ever going to escape the cloud of the NCAA, the Los Angeles Times reported. Floyd didn’t answer.
Carroll said when he first got to USC his goal was to build a program where “everyone was coming after us. Be careful what you wish for,” he said, according to the newspaper.
Floyd attended scheduled meet-and-greets May 29 and June 1, but was absent from ones on June 4 and Monday night in San Diego, the school said.
The 55-year-old coach led the Trojans to the NCAA tournament three consecutive seasons, a first in the program’s history, and this year he coached them to the Pac-10 tournament title. The Trojans lost to Michigan State in the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament. Overall, he was 85-50 in four seasons.
Floyd had three years remaining on his contract.
Floyd’s other college stints were at Iowa State, New Orleans and Idaho. His combined record in 16 years at the college level was 328-180. He coached the NBA’s Chicago Bulls from 1999-2002 and the New Orleans Hornets from 2003-04.
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